Congratulations to our Reading Buddy of the Month—Paty Ceja! Paty has been a Reading Buddy for three years and first heard about the program through Valero Energy’s volunteer committee. With children of her own, Paty has always known the importance of learning how to read. As she says, “Learning how to read is a big milestone for young kids. Once they master it, everything falls into place.”

The importance of volunteering and giving back to the community is a big reason that Paty is a Reading Buddy: “I know there are a lot of parents out there that aren’t so fortunate or don’t have that support system at home to help with their kids. So this is my way of giving back to my community. I want to be that extra support giving their kids help in reading and to get past this milestone.”

Paty knows that the relationships built being a Reading Buddy are strong. She notes that, “You may think no progress was made but there was. The trust, and the promise you make to come and spend some reading time with them is so important.”

A big Thank You to Paty for her commitment to our Reading Buddy students!